Mom and Me At Sunrise

Lupine Meadows at Sunrise

Mom and Me at Mount St. Helens

Valley Below Mount Saint Helens

Snow Lake at Mt. Rainier

I Blew My Top at Mount St. Helens

Mom and I went up to Sunrise last Wednesday. Sunrise is on the east side of the park and sits at 6400 feet. It is a 2 hour drive from Longmire. It was a sweltering hot day. We hiked up to Frozen Lake which was a mild 3 mile round trip hike. We saw a five point buck standing in the lupine meadows with the mountain in the background. It was a national geographic moment that was completely missed by my camera. On Thursday, we drove 3 hours to Mount St. Helens. It was devastatingly beautiful. The valley is a wide barren river of ash surrounded by slopes of fallen trees and new families of evergreens. The blue lupine were the first flower to regenerate the area after the explosion and dot the landscape. Our living planet reminds us that life can change abruptly but time slowly creates new hope. Saturday, we visited the Grove of the Patriarch, the site of my previous encounter with the Frog Prince, and then hiked to Snow Lake, a 2 1/2 mile hike to a beautiful glacier fed lake. It was another oppressively hot day that made us melt and ultimately ended with Longmire's infamous blackberry cobbler topped with vanilla ice cream.

Trans Canada

Mama Grillo flew into Seattle late, very late, Tuesday night. We made a mad dash for the Canadian border on Wednesday to go visit Matt and Christine. It was a relatively easy 7 1/2 hour drive to Vernon, British Columbia especially with the new toy Mom brought, the TomTom. Vernon is located in the Okangogan Valley which is now refered to as the Canadian Riveria. It was a blistering 95 degrees which I guess is how it always is with almost no rain fall. I was so excited to go swimming which has been a much missed summer activity. There are several large lakes with lots of motor boats zooming around in the Valley. The lakes are nestled into dry, yellow-brown hillsides dotted with modular homes hanging on for dear life. We had a wonderful time hanging out with them and will miss them as they are heading to Japan at the end of the month. Our trip back over the USA border was uneventful. Thank God! b/c I forgot I had my bow and arrow in the back window of my car under a blanket! Of course, I had my excuse ready if they found them and inquired why I had my bow and arrows.
I AM THE Sasquatch Hunter!!